An Ocean Apart
by TheFluffyPrince
Summary: A long distance relationship wasn't something that Haru and Makoto expected, but they're making it work.


**A/N: Hylianspeedster requested MakoHaru with a long distance relationship. So, I decided to set this during their college years where Makoto is in Tokyo and Haru decided to try and swim competitively in Australia (I know they're living together canonically, but let's just say Haru went overseas). **

**Pairing: MakoHaru**

**Warning: Fluff**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Free!**

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><p>A tired grunt left Makoto's mouth as he walked into his apartment, shrugging off his book bag and letting it fall to the floor. Rubbing his shoulders with a mild wince, he walked further into his apartment, falling down on the couch. A faint groan left his mouth before he sighed, the silence of the room washing over him. He let his eyes fall shut for a moment, his body slowly relaxing after a long trying day at school.<p>

Never had he imagined that studying to be a coach would this rigorous and tiring. There were just so many aspects that went into coaching that he had never thought about, even being the captain of the swim club back in Iwatobi, and working alongside Sasabe-sensei. He had to learn about the different muscles in the body, everything from how to properly train each muscle to locating when problems were starting to form. And along with that, he had to take several diet, language, exercise, and strategy courses. Quite honestly, it was kind of overwhelming at times.

Before he could get any further in his thoughts, a familiar dinging sounded through out the room. Unconscious smile coming to his face, Makoto pushed himself up with the little strength that he had left in his body, walking over to his computer. Opening Skype up, Makoto noticed that he had several messages from Nagisa and Rei, mostly greeting messages and questions on his life in Tokyo. He also had a message from Rin (asking the same thing), as well as Sousuke (asking for the notes to their anatomy class). There were even a couple from Ren and Ran (with a small message from his parents as well). However, he wasn't focused on any of those messages at the moment. The one that caught his attention was from Haru, green icon next to his name indicating that he was currently online.

_Haru: Can you talk now? _

Simple and to the point, as always. Smiling, Makoto sat himself down in his desk chair and typed back an affirmative response. He waited a few moments for Haru's reply, glancing down at his phone for a moment. When the telltale 'ding' sounded again, he glanced back up at his computer.

_Haru: Alright. I'll call you in a bit._

Humming to himself, Makoto nodded his head before looking back down at his phone to pass the time. Flipping through the text messages he's accumulated throughout the day, he waited for Haru to go ahead and call him. He was aware that Haru and Rin shared a room over in Australia, and sometimes it was a bit of a handful trying to get the red head out of the room. Makoto could think of several times where they were talking over Skype and Rin would still be there, laughing in the background.

Makoto loved Rin, but he was more than embarrassing when it came to his relationship with Haru.

As the ringtone signaling that Haru was calling him rang out, Makoto put his phone on his desk before accepting the call. And the moment that he saw his Haru, sitting in front of his camera with his normal stoic expression on his face with a towel wrapped around his neck, Makoto's head skipped a beat. Smiling brightly, Makoto waved at his boyfriend.

"Hi Haru. How are you today?" he asked happily.

A faint smile came to Haru's face and he waved back at Makoto. "Hi Makoto. I'm alright. Just got back from practice." He brushed a hand through his damp hair as he spoke, wiping off his hand with the towel around his neck.

Humming, Makoto nodded his head in understanding. "How is practice going for you? I bet there are a lot of talented swimmers down there."

Haruka glanced off to the side for a moment, seeming to be thinking to himself. "It's different from being in Japan."

Giving a nod, Makoto took a moment to think to himself. He had heard a little bit of what it was like from Rin whenever they were able to talk. It was apparently a completely different world, like black and white. He knew that the transition had been hard on Rin when he had first went to Australia, although Makoto knew a lot of that had to do with Rin not having a lot of competition back at home. So, he had initially been afraid of what Haru's reaction would be, especially since he would be training with swimmers right out of high school, and not those still in middle school. They were surely beyond talented (there was a reason they were candidates for the Olympics).

But surprisingly...Haru seemed to flourish in that environment. Sure, there were times when his boyfriend came to him, frustrated and even angry at himself. But he never really seemed to hit that wall of helplessness that Rin had hit hard. He seemed...happier in a way. Of course, he knew Haru missed everyone from Iwatobi and at times became homesick, but the environment around him, encouraging and motivating him to constantly improve so that he didn't end up getting left behind...it did Haru good.

It made Makoto happy and proud.

"How is school going?" Haruka asked suddenly, attention focused on Makoto for a moment.

Blinking at the sudden question, it takes Makoto a couple of seconds to filter through his thoughts before chuckling softly. "It's going alright. It's a lot more work that we had in high school, but I like it." And that was the truth. As tired as he felt every day after classes and practice, this was probably the happiest he's been in a long while.

The small smile on Haru's face grew slightly bigger and a pleased glint entered the swimmer's eyes. He didn't say anything else, seemingly content with the answer. Makoto found himself slipping into a similar state of content as he stared at his boyfriend. Neither of them had anything else to say, and that was perfectly fine with the both of them.

"I can't wait to see you again Haru," Makoto murmured softly.

Haru stared at Makoto for a moment, his eyes narrowed a bit, as though he could see right into him, hearing what Makoto was really saying. That what he was talking about wasn't seeing Haruka when he came back home for the holidays to visit, but about seeing him on the stage where Haru would be swimming for his country and Makoto would be the one coaching him.

It was a dream that wouldn't be happening soon, but Makoto had a feeling that someday, they'd see each other at the pool once again.

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><p><strong>AN: A lot shorter than I thought it would be, but hopefully this is good enough. ;u; **


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